I’m just a little obsessed with oracle cards, and you know I love creative prompts for reflection and excavation. So I’ve been thinking for a long time about how I could combine the two to make a deck that would supply a creative prompt designed to uncover some important questions or truths that are relevant to the reader in the moment.
Introducing the Creative Spark deck
This is where I’ve got to. Experimenting with turning key themes and archetypes from psychology, literature and mysticism into images that, hopefully, capture the imagination and ask you to look deep inside yourself or the subjects you’re working with in your creative projects.
As Valentine’s Day has just gone by, I thought a good first one to start with would be Love.
Working with the Love card
Here are a few ideas and exercises you can explore with this card.
Journal / meditation prompts
Questions for you to journal or meditate on (either as yourself or in the persona of your creative subject):
What does love mean to you?
How do you know when you love someone / when someone loves you?
Who or what do you truly love?
When have you felt most loved?
Have you ever had your heart broken?
What was your first experience of love?
Creative exercises
Here are a few ways you could work with the idea of Love (remember you can always substitute the word “you” in any of the instructions for the name of your creative subject):
Write a love letter to yourself or to someone you love (you don’t have to send it)
Make a collage of people / things / ideas that represent love to you
Draw a large heart shape, and within that shape write a few sentences or draw a picture for each of the people / animals / things that you love, expressing why you love them
Free write (writing continuously without stopping) for 10 minutes using the following first line: “I knew I loved them from the very first time they…”
Create a love jar - every time someone makes you feel loved or cared about, write it down on a piece of paper and add it to the jar; when the jar is full, look back on all the lovely memories, and you could use them to make a collage or to inspire an artwork or piece of writing
If you work with any of these prompts, I’d love to hear how you get on! Tell me in the comments, or tag me on Notes.
What a lovely idea! Looking forward to seeing some more of your cards. Creating personal oracle decks is so much fun!
You've sparked an idea for me. Thanks 😊